Dodger Thoughts

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

In a glorious performance that was the humidity-soaked version of last year’s crisp and cool no-hitter, Clayton Kershaw phenomenalized the Washington Nationals this afternoon, striking out 14 batters without a walk in eight shutout innings of a 4-2 Dodger victory.

Making his 228th start in his seventh Major League season, Kershaw marched with the mercenary drumbeat of two strikeouts every inning for the first seven innings, and was a serious threat to the franchise record of 18 strikeouts in a game (held by Sandy Koufax and Ramon Martinez) until a perfect eighth inning that featured three groundouts.

With a pitch count (101) approximating the heat index, Kershaw then called it a day, backed by a lead that was the product of an Adrian Gonzalez double and 12 singles. Kershaw’s 14 strikeouts, one shy of the career-high 15 he had in the no-hitter, included three of leading National League Most Valuable Player candidate Bryce Harper each time they squared off. (Harper later hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Kenley Jansen, who otherwise struck out the side himself.)

Each Dodger outfielder had exactly one putout behind Kershaw today (14 strikeouts, seven groundouts, three flyouts). According to Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A., Kershaw is the first Dodgers pitcher with at least 13 strikeouts in consecutive games since Chan Ho Park from Sept. 24-29 2000, and the first with back-to-back starts of double-digit strikeouts and no walks since Dazzy Vance, Sept. 11-16, 1930.

It remains astonishing but true: Since May 26, with a 1.36 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings, Kershaw is outperforming his 2014 NL Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award numbers.

Here are Kershaw’s totals for July: three starts, 24 innings, 16 hits, two walks, 34 strikeouts, 0.42 ERA.

On July 3, the MLB leader in fielding-independent pitching and strikeouts walked New York Met outfielders Curtis Granderson and John Mayberry Jr. in the top of the first inning. Since then, he has struck out 34 batters without walking anyone.

His strikeout rate for the season is the highest since a couple of guys named Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez were at the top of their game.

best K% ever, starters, 100+ innings

1. 1999 Pedro
2. 2001 RJ
3. 2001 Pedro
4. 2000 Pedro
5. 2000 RJ
6. 1997 RJ
7. 1995 RJ
8. 2015 Kershaw

— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) July 18, 2015

Paired with Zack Greinke’s 35 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, Kershaw now has 20 consecutive scoreless innings of his own, putting him just about halfway to his 2014 streak of 41 consecutive shutout frames. (Greinke faces Washington ace Max Scherzer on Sunday.)

I’ve given up on the idea that the “What’s wrong with Kershaw?” questions will ever stop, because they will come every time he doesn’t do this. It’s maddening.

By Jon Weisman

So it’s the Dodgers’ official position that Clayton Kershaw is an All-Star, and it’s my personal position that Clayton Kershaw is an All-Star, and a lot of people in the baseball world outside of Los Angeles seem to agree that Clayton Kershaw is an All-Star, but at the end of the day, we’re all selling him short.

Clayton Kershaw is Clayton Kershaw. And whatever team he is on — that’s the team to be on.

In tonight’s 5-0 victory over Philadelphia, the No. 2 strikeout performance of his career, behind only his 15-K no-hitter, Kershaw faced 36 batters tonight, and threw 31 pitches out of the strike zone.

Photos: Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

With one out in the first inning today at Miami, a few moments after the 11th home run of Justin Turner’s incredible 2015, Marlins left fielder Christian Yelich reached first base on an infield single.

The next batter, Adeiny Hechavarria, hit a blooper to right, and you thought, “Here we go again” with Clayton Kershaw.

That wasn’t even the half of it.

Andre Ethier’s throw to third base squirted past Turner and an admittedly poorly positioned Kershaw, allowing Yelich to score and Hechavarria to get three bases out of his hit.

Then came a wild pitch by Kershaw, and just like that, 210 feet of hits had yielded two runs.

In the next inning, Kershaw gave up a leadoff double but appeared ready to emerge unscathed three batters later, before Joc Pederson misjudged a drive to center by pitcher Tom Koehler. Pederson volleyball-set the ball into the air, but it spiked before he could find it, and the Marlins had a third run.

The kicker: The Dodgers had a franchise-record 13-game errorless streak entering the game. And Kershaw, who had been bitten by home runs recently, didn’t come close to allowing one out of the park.

And all it meant was the first three-start losing streak of Kershaw’s career, a 3-2 defeat, and the latest chapter of brilliance disguised.

Kershaw allowed five singles and two doubles, while walking none and striking out nine. No, Kershaw hasn’t been perfect. On the other hand, here’s his record over his past seven starts: 48 2/3 innings, 30 hits, nine walks, 67 strikeouts, 1.85 ERA. Even his maligned homer rate in that stretch is 0.9 per nine innings.

After Adrian Gonzalez’s RBI single (on a drive that befuddled Yelich about as much as Koehler’s confused Pederson) put Turner at second base with the tying run in the top of the fourth, Andre Ethier ripped a liner to second base that Dee Gordon snagged, and Hechecarria and Gordon than combined on a stylish double play off the bat of Yasmani Grandal.

Over the remaining five innings, the Dodgers got two baserunners, moved each of them to second base with two out, and stranded them there.

Kershaw kept the Dodgers close, even striking out the side after Marlins reached first and third with none out in the sixth, but the early fumbles were too much to overcome.